The Ætherplane Trilogy 1: When Universes Collide
by Cupro the Dragon
Summary: Spyro's world has been turned upside down. Also inside out, backwards, and just generally the wrong way. Wait a second, this isn't even his world!
1. Explanations

Explanations

This is a story that most people will never tell you, but if you ask the right person at the right time, then they might tell the saga as a fairy tale, or as an adventure beyond the stars. Well, I'm the right person, and most of the time is the right time, so I'll write it down for you. But first, I need to explain something.

You may have been told that we live in a universe, and that this universe has everything that exists in it. While this is somewhat correct, it is mostly wrong. We live in a multiverse with an infinite number of universes, each with its own properties. While the basic forces that are in those universes are the same, the universes couldn't be more different. About what I said before about the multiverse, the multiverse isn't a static, stationary emptiness. The multiverse is a dynamic, moving space full of universes and the things between them. And, like in the universes inside it, objects and groups of objects influence each other, and sometimes even crashing. You may not believe me, believing that no other universe has ever interacted with ours. Actually, our universe was actually created when two other universes exerted influence on each other at the quantum level. The multiverse is a wellspring of universes, extradimensional forces, energy, and everything in between. This story is a document that has traveled from beyond the reaches of our universe, telling us what happens when several universes collide.


	2. Chapter 1 - Chaos in Skylands

Chapter 1 - Chaos in Skylands

**Everything in this chapter belongs to Activision, though I made up this event.**

Spyro leaned back on his bed, playing video games. "Ahh, it's nice to kick back for once," he said. He finished his level and saved the game. 'Now to get some fresh air,' he thought, walking outside into the sunlight. A dark shadow fell over him and went past him. He looked up and saw Malefor, flying as fast as he could. "Well, that ruined my day," he thought, and flew up to meet him.

"I need your help," said Malefor, clearly out of breath.

"Why should I help you when you've tried to kill me so many times?" asked Spyro, obviously meaning it.

"Because if you don't, you'll die, and I and all of the rest of Skylands will too," Malefor replied.

"Huh. I'm intrigued," Spyro said sarcastically.

"Well, if you don't help me, I'll go straight to Cloudcracker Prison and break Kaos out so he will."

"All right, fine. What's the problem?"

Something between a fire and an explosion roared in the distance, and a boulder flew past them, narrowly missing Spyro's and his friends' home. "That!" Malefor yelled, pointing at what shot the boulder. It was a raging inferno, burning and exploding, but it didn't seem to be rooted to anything. Spyro could see that it was expanding, bit by bit, and it was shooting more objects, mostly rocks, but other things too, each one faster than the last, and they started hearing sonic booms. There was even a mug shot.

Skylanders started pouring out of the library in an anarchic mess, and Master Eon was trying to get them to calm down. "Hmm, I wondered where everyone was," said Spyro. Spyro and Malefor felt a sudden warping of the world, then - black.


	3. Chapter 2 - On Dragon Island

Chapter 2 - On Dragon Island

**Everything in this chapter is mine and takes place in between books in Life of Dragons. I am the author of Life of Dragons (not released yet).**

I (Cupro) flew through the glimmering evening sky, admiring the sunset and the orange, pink, and black colors of dusk. What a beautiful sunset, I thought. If only I had someone to share it with. I sat down on a rocky outcrop, legs tucked in tail, staring out to sea. A turquoise dragon flew down to my right side. "Oh, hey, Aqua."

"Hi," said Aqua, giggling. "What are you doing?"

"Hey, stop the laughing," I said, giving her a small shove.

"Hey, you hypocrite, you laugh a lot more than I do," she shot back. I rolled my eyes and she started trying to smother her laughter with her talons. I said, "Fine, you win. What did you want to ask me?"

"I asked you what you were doing," she said.

"Just admiring the sunset," I replied.

"I could take in a sunset, too," she said.

"Be my guest."

As she laid her tail on mine, I felt that our relationship was getting to a level that was something more than friends. It was kind of...unsettling, to say the least.

Somehow, the sky was getting brighter. This is a sunset, not a sunrise, I thought. Then I saw what was going on. Something that looked like a meteor was falling, and if it kept its course, it would score a bull's-eye right on Dragon Island.

XXXXXXXXXX

Blade walked to the underground all-purpose complex. She talked to a few friends and walked to her lab. She finished up a few experiments and walked to the supercomputer's room and hooked herself up to the supercomputer to solve some very complicated problems. (She's a robot. She's capable of doing that.) She heard noises like something flying at high speed, fire, and explosions. She quickly unplugged herself, then a huge burst of energy enveloped her and the rest of the complex.

**After 6/12/2019, updates won't be as frequent.**

**Best wishes to all of you,**

_CuproTheDragon_


	4. Chapter 3 - Awakening

Chapter 3 - Awakening

**Lightning and the Unknown Realms™ are mine. Ember and the world of Declivar™ are mine, but are integrated from a story that I made Magic: The Gathering® cards for on MTG Cardsmith™. I'm FireballMTG there. The slivers (part of Magic: The Gathering) and Magic: The Gathering® belong to Wizards of the Coast, LLC.**

**I put (Lance or Cupro) after the first "I" in a section to clarify if it is Lance or Cupro narrating.**

Blink...blink...blink. Spyro woke up and stood up. His legs seemed like they could give out at any moment. "Hey, you're up. Move it, move it, we need to go," said a voice.

"Go where? Who are you?" Spyro groggily replied.

"Who are you? Where are you from?" said the voice again. "Why are you purple? How are you not hurt?"

"I'm Spyro, and I think you ask a few too many questions."

The voice burst into peals of laughter. Eventually Spyro became fully aware of his surroundings. He was in the middle of a crater, about 500 feet across and 125 feet deep. A smiling female dragon, the owner of the voice, was next to him. She had red scales, white eyes, black horns and wing membranes, and underscales the colors of magma, colors shifting and blending like it was real. She had black feathers from the bottom of the back corners of her head, getting bigger as they went higher to where her horns were. She wore a light brown backpack that was completely full.

"Who are you?" Spyro asked.

"I'm Ember," said the other dragon simply. "Where are you from? I'm from Declivar."

"Deck-cliff-air?"

"It's basically pronounced like that. Where are you from?"

"Skylands."

Spyro sat down. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, but the others and I call it the Unknown Realms."

"The others?"

"Yeah, all the other dragons that I know."

"Why is there a crater here?"

"And you said I asked too many questions! There's a crater here because you fell from the sky. You didn't know that?"

"Well, of course I didn't. I was unconscious."

"Oh, right, duh. Geez, me."

"And like I said, go where?"

"Somewhere where the slivers aren't."

"Slivers?"

"Yes. They're mindless embodiments of dominance and destruction. When one arrives, it gives all the others a benefit so they can more easily destroy."

"What do they look like?"

"It varies, but you won't be mistaking one for anything else. Come with me," said Ember, and with that they disappeared into the dark forest.

XXXXXXXXXX

"It seems that someone was just here," I (Cupro) said.

"It's not only the tracks, there's still a fresh scent in the air," Lightning, my father, replied. He was a copper dragon with sea green eyes, covered in a thick hide of orangish scales. He turned towards me. The dark green blindfold he always wears somehow made him more intimidating. "We'll soon see whether they're friends or foes."

**Well, it took forever, but I've finally got this chapter out. There were a lot of interruptions and stuff like that. I really hope you haven't lost interest. Anyway, tell me what you think, write lots of reviews, and tell me what you want to happen. It just might happen!**

**Sincerely,**

_CuproTheDragon_


	5. Chapter 4 - Exploring

Chapter 4 - Exploring

**Quick note: If you have an OC (character that you made) that you would like to be in this story, then PM me (the way to do that is to go to my profile page and click the PM link in the upper left corner) with your profile name, your OC's name, and a description of his/her physical appearance, personality, kind of dragon (if applicable, characters don't have to be dragons) and any special traits (magical abilities, tics, etc. that demonstrate your OC's uniqueness.) I might change things a bit, but it should be accurate enough for you to recognise him/her. Now, come to think of it, that note wasn't very quick.**

**Blade, Malfire, and Malfire's Black Smoke Machine™ are mine. Cynder belongs to Activision®.**

"Look at these trees," I said. "I'm supposed to be twelve feet tall, taller than them. Either the trees have grown or we've shrunk."

"Judging by the size of the grass and the rabbit you've just caught, I'd say we've shrunk," said my dad.

XXXXXXXXXX

During the four days when Ember and Spyro were in the forest, they had gotten to know each other a bit better and discovered that Spyro had broken his left leg and right wing during his fall. Ember had pulled out some objects in her backpack and had made two makeshift splints.

Spyro and Ember came out into a clearing, and in the middle of the clearing and up, they could see a floating island. This particular floating island was very wide and had one hill. Ember could see a very well-hidden entrance at the base of the hill that must have been almost impossible to see unless you knew exactly where it was or you were very close up.

"Closest thing to Skylands that I've seen in days," said Spyro.

"Wanna go up there?" asked Ember.

"I can't. I've got a broken wing."

"That's not a problem," Ember said with a dismissing gesture, and a plume of lava erupted from the ground diagonally and hit the edge of the island, instantly hardening into obsidian.

"How did you DO that?" Spyro shouted.

"Magic. Anyway, you can walk up the path I've just created to get there."

They went through the entrance, and found themselves on a flight of stairs going downwards. They walked down the stairs and came out into a tremendously huge room with a glass ceiling.

"Whoa, I'm starting to get dizzy," said Ember, and sat down.

"Hey, wait a second," said Spyro. "If you can use magic like that, can't you heal my broken bones?"

"No. I can only do specific kinds of magic. Healing isn't one of them."

Spyro asked, "So, uh, what do we-?"

"Shut up with the nonsense or I will shut you off!"

"What?" Ember said.

"Please don't do that."

"Is that just me, or does that sound like a robot?" asked Spyro.

"I think they both sound like robots," said Ember.

"Hey, cool it."

"Hey, I know that voice. That's Cynder!" said Spyro.

"Starting cooling systems."

"Not literally, you dolt!"

"Turning cooling systems off."

"You know what? I will turn you off."

"Don't d-Shutting down."

"Awk-ward," said Ember.

A robotic dragon, with metal scales in almost all the colors of the rainbow, stomped out of a room to their left.

"Oh, uh, hi…" the dragon said, noticing them and trailing off.

"Who are you?" asked Ember.

"I'm Blade. Who are you?" said the robot dragon, whose name was, apparently, Blade.

"I'm Ember. This is Spyro."

"Uh, hi?" said Spyro.

A purple head poked out of the room that Blade came out of. "Spyro!" Cynder practically yelled, and, for all they could see, jumped the fifteen feet between them and the door and landed on Spyro in a rolling-across-the-floor hug.

Ember said, "Uh, are you two-" Spyro cut her off. "No."

A frightened dragon clad in copper and silver scales burst through the entrance. "Cupro!" Blade said. "Malfire's right outside!" I said, gasping for breath. Malfire? Maybe Malefor... Spyro thought.

A vaguely dragon-shaped mass of black smoke came down the stairs, with two eyes with glowing green scleras and white pupils shining out. "Now to settle this once and for all," it said.

**P.S. I don't have any sort of schedule.**


	6. Chapter 5 - Epic Fight!

Chapter 5 - Epic Fight!

**Topaz, the laser pistols, Dragonbane, the Electro Blades™, and Ember's scepter are mine. Nicol Bolas belongs to Wizards of the Coast, LLC.**

I (Cupro) pulled out two laser pistols, Blade took the Electro Blades™ off her arms (The Electro Blades™ are sort of like scimitars with handles that are longer than the actual blade that electrocute anything they hit. That's the best I can describe them.), and Ember took out a golden scepter with a blade on the bottom she could stab with and a 3-inch wide ball of floating lava on the top, with eight sharp prongs going around it.

Thud! Dragonbane, a stone golem that looked like a dragon but sixty-four times as large, landed behind Malfire. Fear registered in all of the dragons' brains except for Malfire's, for he was the one who controlled this monstrosity.

"Cupro, could you get Topaz?" Blade asked.

"On it," I said, quickly flying back, glad to be away from Malfire.

"Dragonbane, kill them," Malfire commanded.

EPIC FIGHT SCENE ALERT! If you get lightheaded when you read about blood or are otherwise a wuss, don't read this bit.

Dragonbane obediently launched himself at the assembled dragons, knocking them over like bowling pins.

Blade took a glass bottle of acid out of her storage compartment and threw it at one of Dragonbane's leg joints. It shattered and some of the shards got caught in the machinery, successfully disabling it, and the acid immediately started eating away at the metal.

XXXXXXXXXX

I fiddled with the device that I had on my wrist. _OK,_ I thought. _Topaz's settings, autopilot...You know, there should be a better name for that. Hmm...OK, I think that's it. ON, and..._ I heard a _Whooooosh!_ Topaz, a metal dragon robot the size of Dragonbane landed next to me.

"Why'd you turn me on?" she asked.

"Malfire and Dragonbane are attacking the complex, and we thought you could help us fight them," I replied.

"OK," she said. She picked me up and flew to the front.

XXXXXXXXXX

At this point, Cynder had been burned very badly, and had limped into a corner.

Ember tried to use her magic scepter to control Malfire, but it didn't work since he was a cyborg.

Wait, what? You didn't know that the holder of the scepter can control dragons, OR that Malfire was a cyborg? Where have you been? Never mind that, because I have to get on with the story.

Although the control magic didn't work, she could see through the smoke that it was enough to dull his reflexes. She jabbed at him with the bottom of the scepter once, twice, thrice. _Clang, clang, shunk!_ It caught him in the arm, and he hissed and breathed fire the color of a green Expo™ marker. Ember was forced to pull out the scepter and run.

Just then, Topaz flew in and dropped on top of Dragonbane, and I glided down and triggered the lasers at Malfire. I missed every shot, but nevertheless, he shrieked and scampered up the stairs, leaving Dragonbane behind, and also leaving behind a quite large puddle of blood and a notable trail of blood up the stairs.

At this point, the odds were not good for Dragonbane. He only had three working legs, was fighting an equal in power and skill, and fighting five other dragons. He also flew out, but not before Blade shot a tracking device at him.

END OF FIGHT SCENE.

"Woohoo! We won!" shouted Spyro. "Well, I mean, not that I'm not used to winning, it's just..." He trailed off once he realized that no one was paying attention to him.

Topaz was walking back to her chamber. Blade was going toward her lab. Ember was checking on Cynder, and I was going out to look for my dad, who went a different way than I did when Malfire attacked us in the forest.

Spyro walked over to Ember and said, "I guess we're staying here for a while."

XXXXXXXXXX

Malfire and Dragonbane where gliding right over the treetops, Malfire holding his injured arm. Malfire said, "Hey, Dragonbane. Look at the size of these trees," Malfire said. "Why am I talking to you? You don't..." A shadow fell over them. Malfire looked up. A massive gold-colored dragon, larger than Dragonbane and twice as tall, with very strangely shaped horns and cruel expression on his face, loomed over them. _Let's see...evil people crave either money, power, or fame. He doesn't look like he cares much about fame, and in this chaos, a new money system has yet to be established,_ Malfire thought. "Who are you?" Malfire asked, displaying professional courtesy. "My name is Nicol Bolas," the dragon replied gruffly. "I have nothing to do with the likes of someone like yourself, so buzz off."

"You seem like you have a lot of power." Malfire started.

"I do. And why would you care?"

"I propose that two powerful beings could come to...an alliance."

**Sorry about the HUGE delay.**


	7. Chapter 6 - In Shock

Chapter 6 - In Shock

**If you read my stories - shoot, story, you should go back to the earlier chapters once in a while. I change them to better fit the storyline. This is a work in progress.**

**Also, before we get started, let's review some ground rules of FanFiction.**

**1 - This is a place to have fun.**

**2 - This is a place for all ages. Don't send comments or messages that could be disturbing. This is not a dating site.**

**3 - Respect others.**

**4 - Constructive criticism is welcomed, but don't say that something is horrible and not give a reason.**

**This will be a trilogy. _When Universes Collide_, _The Ultimate Endgame_, and _To Find a Raven_ will be the individual stories' names. The name of the series will be _The Ætherplane Trilogy_.**

**Sorry about how long it's been. I have a lot of stuff to deal with now, getting into middle school and such. Anyway, let's get on with the story.**

A troop of humans came marching into a clearing. "Let's face it. We're lost," said one soldier. "Hold up! What's that doing there?" said the leader. A huge chunk of rock was floating in the middle of the clearing, with a pillar of obsidian sticking out of the ground at an odd angle, burying itself into the bottom of the piece of earth. Before anyone could make sense of what they were seeing, a creature with a featureless crescent-shaped head, two tails, and one arm with a big claw at the end came out of the shadows. "A sliver! Attack!" the leader shouted. The sliver was easy to kill, mainly because there was only one. They defeated it with no casualties.

A group of dragons, each about three-quarters as tall as a human and about twice as long as they were tall, flew out of a hidden entrance in the floating island. Two were purple, one was red, and one was a whole bunch of colors.

"Wait, I recognize that dragon!" one soldier said, pointing at the red one. "That's the princess!"

You're probably thinking, Wait, what? I think you deserve this backstory. So, in Declivar - you remember that that's where Ember's from, right? - there are six groups, variously called races or factions. Dragons are one of these factions. Ember happens to be the dragons' princess and only heir to the throne. Currently, these factions have just entered a world war. This group of soldiers is from Declivar and so recognized Ember.

"Maybe we should wave her down?" asked Onsodyan, the only soldier besides the captain who dared to speak. Conveniently, Onsodyan was second-in-command, and so was allowed to. "No, you idiot!" shouted Captain Green. This caught Ember's attention, and she flew down. "Do I know you?" she asked. "You seem familiar."

"That's because we're just like every other troop of humans," Onsodyan said.

"Judging by the way you said that, you're not the one in charge," Ember said. "Who is?"

Captain Green promptly fainted.

"Now I am," said Onsodyan.

"If you're lost, Mount Rebellious is that way," Ember said, pointing at the very visible volcano.

"Mount What's-it-now?" asked a different soldier, whose name was Addison. Other soldiers now spoke because Onsodyan relaxed the rules slightly when he was in charge.

"Rebellious. Everyone's going over there, being the only landmark for miles around. See ya!" A copper-and-silver striped dragon and a copper-colored dragon flew out of the forest to join them. "Hey, I didn't think about it, but my arm is well enough for me to fly," said Spyro as the dragons flew towards Mount Rebellious. The dragons flew uneventfully for seven hours, reaching Rebellious by sundown.

"Welcome to Mount Rebellious, were anything can, and does, happen," said Ember. Over the volcano, shrouded from sight before by the clouds, floated a stone hand in a pointing position, slowly spinning every which way.

A dragon made entirely of ice flew up to the party. He said to Ember, "The king...has died."

Ember suddenly burst into tears. "Why are you crying?" asked Spyro.

Ember replied, "He was more than the king to me."

"He was my father."


	8. Chapter 7 - A Cold Front

Chapter 7 - A Cold Front

**Pyrox belongs to Hiccup2484. Shoutouts to Hiccup! He made Pyrox just for this story.**

Clouds rolled in with unnatural speed. Thunder crashed loudly, and rain started falling, quickly turning into sleet as the temperature dropped. I did not know that this would have this high of an effect, Pyrox thought. This weather should keep everyone in for a while. This will give me more time to plan.

Pyrox is, for lack of a better description, a lifelike mech. He always wears a featureless red mask with a large scratch on it, and armor made of mithral with words of an ancient dialect written on it. He had two horns, but his left one was lopped off in battle, and he hasn't gotten around to replacing it. He also has a crude knife that's shaped like a butcher's knife with teeth, and it has many magical abilities that I haven't studied. His slim figure is pale bronze and the underside of his wings is black on the outside half and red on the inside half. He is tall - for a dragon, dragons were made about four and a half feet tall when these universes merged. He has telekinetic powers that I haven't seen the limits of. No one knows where he came from.

Pyrox has recently murdered the king of the dragons that used to live in Declivar. As you (hopefully) recall from last chapter, this king was Ember's father. I should probably get out of here now. It was stupid of me to even stick around in the first place, a voice in his mind said. No, I want to see what happens, said another voice. His curiosity beat his caution for once.

The ice dragon - his name was Cryron, Pyrox found this out while spying - escorted the group of dragons to a large building near the top of the mountain. (No, I'm not trying to make the names sound repetitive.)

XXXXXXXXXX

The ice dragon led them up to a humongous, beautiful, imposing structure made of marble and surrounded by trees. "The Palace of Sky," he said. "The guards here will find you suitable places to live."

"Spyro, come with me," Ember said. A few guards took the rest of the dragons down the volcano. There was a rustle, and Spyro could have sworn he saw something in the trees. A few seconds passed, and he dismissed it as a bird or something.

Ember and Spyro walked inside. To Spyro, the great hall was staggeringly large. Ember walked down a few corridors and plopped herself down on a sofa in one of the rooms. Spyro sat right next to her. "So, what do you like to do to cheer yourself up?" Spyro asked.

"Usually I throw darts at a dartboard, but I can't find my darts and dartboard now. How about you be the dartboard and my fire will be the darts?"

"You are not in a good mood right now, are you?"

"How can you tell?" Ember then vomited into a bucket next to the sofa.

XXXXXXXXXX

A dark gray dragon that looked exactly like Spyro then burst through the window and attacked them.

Now, the element of surprise can be a very powerful ally, especially when your opponents are weak, exhausted, and facing away from you. Dark Spyro (this was the gray dragon) caught Ember and Spyro in a very large net made of steel cable. "A net? Seriously? That was the best you could do?" asked Spyro.

"Hey, Spyro, do you have an evil twin you didn't tell me about?" asked Ember.

"Sort of. I thought he was dead."

"You really thought that killed me?" asked Dark Spyro. "What happened to impenetrable scales? And being identical in every way, which, by the way, includes firepower and willpower?"

"So maybe I didn't think it through," said Spyro.

"Fortunately for me," said Dark Spyro.

"Unfortunately for you, you're going to have to release them," said a voice.

"Make me," said Dark Spyro, looking around to see where the voice was coming from.

Pyrox then stepped out of the shadows. Suddenly, Dark Spyro was outlined in a glowing white light, and looked like he was straining against invisible bonds. Then his arms reached out - against his will, it seemed like - and opened up the net. The light faded, and Pyrox said, "Go perform your shenanigans somewhere else. Cause all the chaos you want, but these two are off limits." The light flared up again, and Dark Spyro was thrown out the window by an invisible force. By the time Ember and Spyro looked back, Pyrox was gone.

I've mostly guessed Pyrox's thoughts up to this point (mainly because he's not up for interviews), but I can't possibly fathom why he did this. My best guess - Wait, I'll explain it later. Explaining it now would spoil a later chapter.

XXXXXXXXXX

The storm outside whipped up into a blizzard. "Care to explain?" Ember asked Spyro.

Spyro then told her about Strykore and the events leading up to Dark Spyro, all the way to his supposed defeat.

"You care to explain the situation?" Spyro asked Ember.

Ember said, "As you heard, my father has died. I'm next in line for the throne and his only heir."

"So, you're the queen of this mountain now?" asked Spyro.

"Yes."

"Do I have to call you Your Majesty now?"

Ember smacked him upside the head. "No, you idiot!"

"Anyway," Ember continued, "In my world, dragons are inherently magical creatures. We work magic in different ways. I wield magic through my emotions. So that explains the weather."

"Why did you invite me here and no one else?" Spyro asked.

Ember suddenly looked very embarrassed and immediately changed the subject. "Did you know that there are a thousand dragons on this mountain? There are also two thousand humans, two hundred elves, five hundred dwarves, and three hundred goblins. There are also some other people, too." She made a mental note to fix the window. Her stomach growled. "I'm starving," she said. "What do you want to eat?"

"Lasagna would be nice," said Spyro.

"Then let's go to the kitchen," said Ember. "I'll tell you how to make it."

They went to the kitchen and made some lasagna. "So this is how pasta is made?" asked Spyro.

"Wait until you see where it comes from."

They sat down at the table in a small dining room. They didn't manage to eat all the food. "Huh, it seems like a waste to throw it away," Ember said. "On second thought..." A devilish grin spread across her face. She grabbed a handful and threw it at Spyro.

"Hey!" Spyro protested, but then he too started throwing food.

This food fight only lasted for a few minutes, but it was enough to lift their spirits. "We're really dirty," said Ember. "There's a shower that way." She pointed to the right of the entrance. She walked in a different direction, towards a different bathroom.

**So that was your introduction to Pyrox. Merry Christmas!**

**Good tidings,**

_CuproTheDragon_


	9. Chapter 8 - Cloaks and Daggers

Chapter 8 - Cloaks and Daggers

**Ugin is part of Magic: The Gathering® and belongs to Wizards of the Coast, LLC.**

The first stage of his plan was ready to be put into place. He had perfected his enchantment. Now to unleash it upon an unsuspecting world. "Brother," a voice said.

_Dang it!_ Ugin was _here_, out of all places? At the worst possible time, too! Nicol Bolas turned around to face a dragon made of crystal. "Ugin," Bolas said. Nicol Bolas then disappeared with the emerald he was holding, leaving his notes and scrolls on the table.

"These could be useful," said Ugin, as he started collecting them.

XXXXXXXXXX

Pyrox dropped into the cave he recently occupied. His plan depended on knowing everyone else's. He would attempt to control the chaos, turning into this world's savior and ruler. Malfire was going to turn Mount Rebellious over. Nicol Bolas's plan was complicated, but the first part involved turning trees into evil elementals under his command. Dark Spyro was just out for revenge and didn't have a plan. And Gehenna was going to - wait a second - SPOILER ALERT! - Gehenna is another villain - attempt to subject everyone to her mind control.

XXXXXXXXXX

Malfire had his drones tighten a few bolts. "There. Ready to go," he said.

XXXXXXXXXX

The group met up again at the palace to discuss some things.

"Alright, what things have you guys seen?" asked Ember.

"Didn't you say that you had something big to tell us?" I (Cupro) asked.

"Yes, but my years of dealing with royalty has told me to get the small stuff out of the way first," said Ember.

"Someone's been tampering with my supercomputer," said Blade.

"I don't know if it's important, but I saw a bronze, black, and red dragon flying away from here," I said.

"That is important," Ember said. "Which way was he going?"

"About 20 degrees right of where the sun rises," I replied.

"A few drones flew out of the nearby swamp," said Lightning. "I may be blind, but I know what happens."

Spyro told us about Dark Spyro and how he had appeared in the Unknown Realms, after his supposed death.

Ember then told us about how Dark Spyro had attacked them, and how Pyrox had saved them. " It's strange," Ember said. "I got a villainous-type vibe off Pyrox. Wait a second, I just got an idea." She then cast a spell to play back what happened in the king's room at his death.

A ball of darkness materialized in front of them. They could see the king, writhing on his bed from the pain that came from his illness. "Oh yeah," Ember said. "He was suffering from a pretty nasty disease." They saw a blade catch on fire, and a red mask was illuminated in the light. For an instant, the knife turned into a slash of flame across the king's neck, and he was still. Just as suddenly, the fire was extinguished, and they heard glass shatter. "That was Pyrox, all right."

Then, there was a shudder of earth, and something was a bit off, though we couldn't figure out what. Then, the whole mountain was hurled into the air, and people of all kinds went flying. A few were dragons, and flew their way to safety. A few had magic, and floated so they didn't fall, or cast spells to fall slowly. But the majority fell to their deaths, or were incinerated by flying lava, or were crushed inside their homes when the mountain hit the ground. The mountain was now a huge lump of lava, and where it used to be, there were gleaming metal machines, battered by flying rocks.

Pyrox then flew up to the mountain -

and was promptly thrown by magic right at Ember.

All of his body except for his head stopped moving. "Tell us the truth, and I won't kill you," Ember said.

"Dark," Spyro commented.

Pyrox coolly replied, "If you knew who I was, you would hesitate to kill me. But then again, I knew something about the king that even you didn't know, and I didn't hesitate to kill him."

"OK then, who are you?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"And how did you know that I was going to ask about my father?"

"There was nothing else you could have been so mad about," Pyrox said matter-of-factly.

"Anyway, I've imprisoned you in the worst possible prison. Your body is trapped in time. You can command your body to do anything, and it won't, it will do it once you are released."

Pyrox very quickly started to panic. "Let me go!" he shouted. "You don't know what you just did! Let me go!" His body started to glitch, like it was a computer simulation gone wrong.

We were very surprised by this. Ember immediately changed his prison into one made of visible strands of magic woven into a net. Pyrox spasmed, then looked much more relaxed.

"Now, did you do this?" Ember asked gesturing to the chaos around us.

"No, Malfire did," said Pyrox.

Pyrox suddenly looked shocked and disappeared, along with the magic net.

"The net's just been deactivated," Ember said. "What just happened?"

I said, "My best guess is that someone teleported him away."

"That's impossible. The net prevented extradimensional travel."

"You said yourself that the net was deactivated."

A dragon of crystal floated down. "Sounds like you need some help," said Ugin.

**Happy New Year*!**

***The new decade doesn't start until next New Year, 2021.**


	10. Behind the Veil

Behind the Veil

**I do minor changes a lot. If this story has been updated and I haven't added a chapter, don't bother reading it over again. (I'm not like those people who beg for views.)**

**Note: This is simply a chapter explaining everyone's powers, personalities, backstories, and plans. There are some spoilers to future characters and if you don't want to know the villains' plans, skip this chapter.**

**I only included the appearances of Cynder and Spyro because I didn't include what they look like and don't plan to.**

**The Frost Beast belongs to Hiccup2484. Ignitryx and Demku are mine. They will all be described further in later chapters.**

**There are references to alignment, these are Dungeons & Dragons terms and very briefly describe personality. You can derive alignment from a person's actions. Brief descriptions:**

**Lawful good: Believes that rules were created for good and has a strong sense of fair play.**

**Clichéd knights are lawful good.**

**Neutral good: Does their best to help other people, does the reasonable thing in a situation.**

**Kind and sacrificing people are neutral good.**

**Chaotic good: Follows their conscience, with little regard for expectations or rules.**

**Clichéd heroes are chaotic good.**

**Lawful neutral: Believes in rules and tradition, but otherwise doesn't help others much.**

**The average monarch or politician is lawful neutral.**

**Neutral (True neutral): Acts as a normal person would.**

**Most people are true neutral.**

**Chaotic neutral: Puts freedom above all else.**

**People who are restless are usually chaotic neutral.**

**Lawful evil: Takes what they want according to a plan.**

**Classic villains are lawful evil. (You know, the scheming kind?)**

**Neutral evil: Takes what they want in the way that seems best at the time.**

**Clichéd villains are neutral evil.**

**Chaotic evil: Loves chaos, anarchy, violence, and killing for its own sake.**

**Evil overlords are chaotic evil.**

I'm assuming you know Spyro and Cynder, but here goes:

Spyro

_Chaotic good_

Spyro is purple, with copper-colored eyes, underscales, wing membranes, horns, and spines. He breathes carefully aimed fireballs (not like most dragons with fire, who continuously blast weak flames over a wide range), and has impenetrable scales. Spyro is the last of a race of dragons imprisoned after they were turned evil by magic.

Cynder

_Lawful good_

Cynder is purple, with silver claws and markings on her head, six white horns, blue eyes, and red underscales and wing membranes. She shoots lightning blasts out of her mouth. She is Malefor's daughter.

These are Hiccup2484's OCs:

Pyrox

_Lawful evil_

Pyrox likes to spy on his enemies and then fight them in a way they won't expect. He has mastered hand-to-hand combat and has forged his own magic weapon. His sword's main abilities are that it can burst into flames, it disables magical regeneration, and it can turn invisible. (If it does, its flames don't.) Pyrox also perfectly remembers everything that has happened to him. He is quite a shrewd tactician and smart in general.

*Pyrox's origins will be revealed in a story that I plan to write, _On Mechanus_, a Skylanders Academy/Dungeons & Dragons crossover.

The Frost Beast

_Lawful neutral_

The Frost Beast is Pyrox's sworn enemy and polar (ha ha) opposite. He will do anything to stop Pyrox to the exclusion of all else, even if it means teaming up with villains. He possesses the Lunar Stone, an artifact of immense power. It boosts his strength and agility. His body magically reforms after it has been damaged.

Nicol Bolas and Ugin are part of Magic: The Gathering® and belong to Wizards of the Coast, LLC.

Nicol Bolas

_Lawful evil_

Nicol Bolas is millenia old, and he has just suffered a crushing defeat. I won't go into the details, but I'll give you the main points:

1 - Nicol Bolas is very smart, very strong, and very big.

2 - Nicol Bolas had a taste of the ultimate power he once had, only for it to be taken away again. He's still very powerful, though Ugin is more so.

3 - Nicol Bolas has lost the meaning of both his names, so no being can perform magic on him without seeing, touching, or otherwise sensing him. Being aware of his existence isn't enough.

4 - Nicol Bolas has lost the ability to magically travel between worlds.

5 - Nicol Bolas's plan is to turn a bunch of trees into elementals under his command and use the life force of the creatures they kill to become stronger. He will then try to steal the Ruby of the Open Wound from his sister, Ignitryx, and link his essence to the Unknown Realms just long enough to take all its magic, and go on to rule the multiverse. Obviously, this didn't work, as I am writing to you now, so I haven't died. Also, you know that Nicol Bolas hasn't even set foot in your universe.

Ugin

_Lawful good_

Ugin is Nicol Bolas's brother. He's more powerful, and has the ability to travel between worlds, though it's mysteriously shut off here.

These are my OCs that are loosely connected to Magic: The Gathering® and Wizards of the Coast:

Ember

_Neutral good_

Ember's most notable characteristic is that she is the queen of the dragons of Declivar. She carries a magic scepter that gives her the ability to control any dragon she points it at. She can breathe fire and ice shards with equal effort. She has innate magic and channels it through her emotions. Some examples of what will happen if she feels really strong emotion:

Sadness - the clouds will whip up into a blizzard

Happiness - harmless creatures frolic, and the moon or sun shines bright

Anger - lightning strikes or lava erupts

Very inconveniently, healing is the only type of magic she can't do.

Ignitryx

_Neutral good_

Ignitryx is the brother of Ugin and Nicol Bolas. The most powerful object in her universe, the Ruby of the Open Wound, is in her possession. The Ruby absorbs all lost magical power in its universe. She has recently regained her memories after being changed into a different person.

Ignitryx, Nicol Bolas, and Ugin are all bipedal.

There are others I could include here, like Cryron, but they aren't important.

Here are my OCs from Life of Dragons (still not released):

Blade

_Neutral good_

Blade is a 3000-year-old robot. She was born as a dragon, but she replaced more and more of her body with mechanical parts until she became a robot. She knows a lot about machines, and has built many, most notably Alex, the sentient supercomputer in the complex.

Malfire

_Chaotic evil_

Malfire is a cyborg. How he became a cyborg is similar to Blade's story, and he's Blade's brother. He built Dragonbane.

All you need to know about Lightning (lawful good) and me (Cupro, chaotic good) (Alias: Lance, chaotic neutral) can be found on my profile page.

This is my OC from The Draconic Sorcerer (not released yet):

Demku

_Lawful good_

Demku is from a world of magic. He has just been through a war among the gods on his world. He has taken a vow to never fight again. He has magic drawn from his disciplined training. He can spit lightning.


	11. Chapter 9 - The Right Mindset

Chapter 9 - The Right Mindset

**Gehenna is mine.**

The gigantic, bipedal crystal dragon landed. They didn't notice his size or that he walked on two legs until he touched down. "I am Ugin," he said. We all introduced ourselves. Immediately after, dozens of plant monsters - I know how silly that sounds, so I use the broader term elementals instead, even though it's technically incorrect - attacked us.

We easily disposed of them in a fight that wasn't notable in any way, and the only reason I wrote it down was because I am writing a story for you.

"This is war," Ember said.

"Let's go somewhere to figure out who we're up against," I suggested.

XXXXXXXXXX

We went to what was left of the palace and made a map of clues like you see police make in movies, connected with red strings, the whole bit. What we came up with:

1 - The three villains we had to worry about were Nicol Bolas, Pyrox, and Malfire. We needed to watch out for Dark Spyro, but he wasn't that dangerous.

2 - Nicol Bolas and Malfire had reached an alliance.

3 - We figured out that Nicol Bolas had made the elementals, and parts of the rest of his plan, too. (Go to Behind the Veil to see his plan.)

A giant creature coated in a blue mineral (lazotep) that overlapped like dragon scales that looked like a human skeleton with a crocodile head (Bontu) walked through the wall, which crumbled, and speared Ugin through the chest with a sword. A glowing yellow ball with a glowing yellow trail floated out of the wound and shot out of the palace.

I (Cupro) pulled out my laser pistols and shot at her. Two holes melted into her, and she then took her sword and swung it at me, but I was ready. I rolled out of the way just as Spyro shot a fireball into her eye socket. Ember spit ice shards at her, and Bontu whacked her with the flat of her sword, knocking her into the wall and knocking her out. "You happen to have a grenade?!" I shouted at Blade. "Oh, yeah," said Blade and tossed me one as I ducked out of the way of another blow. I threw it into Bontu's mouth when it was open. Bontu exploded, sending rock shards, decaying flesh, and reeking bones all over the room. "Wait a second," I said. "When did my dad take off? Anyway, we've got to get help for Ugin." We took off in different directions and we found healers, and Ugin, somehow, hadn't died by the time we got back. (The identities of the healers don't matter.) The healers worked a ritual, which sealed Ugin's wound. We woke Ember up. "Boy, do I have a headache," she said.

"Of course you do," said Spyro. "You just got knocked into the wall."

"Ugin, are you feeling okay?" I asked.

"I'm physically fine, but I just had most of my magic taken from me by Bontu. She was under Nicol Bolas's control," Ugin replied.

My dad has a knack for coming and going in ways that nobody notices him. "Is it just me, or are things clustering near the swamp?" he asked. This was a silly thing for him to ask. Whenever he notices something, it's never just him.

An army of elementals and lazotep-coated zombie creatures (Eternals) were amassing at the edge of the swamp. In the center was a mass of darkness, with red eyes peering out, and flickers of fire flicking out like snake tongues. This was Gehenna.

**Sorry about how short that was, but I couldn't think of anything to squeeze in between the last chapter and the next.**


	12. Chapter 10 - The First Battle

Chapter 10 - The First Battle

**This is the last chapter of When Universes Collide. I never thought I'd actually get around to finishing this story! Thanks for your support!**

Lightning took off to warn everyone, while the army was still assembling. I (Cupro) called Topaz with my super-smart watch. The stone fist unfolded and turned into a bunch of fragments of a dragon statue. The troop of humans led by Captain Green arrived. A robotic dragon, perfectly hidden in the snow, jumped out of the snow-covered plain. The plain was a pristine white now, but I could tell that it would soon be blood red. Malfire and Nicol Bolas came out of the swamp, Nicol Bolas with a very noticeable smirk. Ugin stood up. All kinds of intelligent creatures started trickling in from around the remains of Mount Rebellious. A set of special armor appeared around Ember. I pulled out my laser pistols. Lightning flew back to us and brandished his sword-bow. Meteors started falling, and humanoids started coming out of them. Clouds started rolling in, and the sun turned red.

All beings that I mentioned except for the army of the villains came onto our side. Even the beasts of the forest came out of their homes onto our side, for even they sensed that this coming war would determine the fate of the multiverse. The Evil Army just kept growing, with no limit to their growth. "If we want any chance of winning, we need to attack now," I said.

We charged. The Evil Army attacked us as well. We used all our willpower, but I saw my allies falling one by one around me, and the enemy's numbers grew faster than they declined. Nicol Bolas blasted fire at us, and killed dozens with each attack. Gehenna simply touched our forces and they turned against us, inflicted with a kind of madness that would make even gods crack. For each enemy I burned to the ground with my weapons, three more replaced it. There was no end in sight for this war. Lightning bolts struck our enemies down, and one even hit Malfire, who ran away, but it still wasn't enough. Ember flew above the battlefield and pointed her scepter at Nicol Bolas while he was distracted and -

XXXXXXXXXX

Normally, taking over a dragon's mind was a simple business for Ember. The magic does its thing, and the dragon obeys her. But Nicol Bolas was a very powerful entity with an iron will. Ember had to put all her power into this. Do you remember what I said before about the element of surprise? That was the only thing that allowed her to do what she did. She intertwined her mind with Nicol Bolas's and ripped her mind out as fast as she could. Nicol Bolas was then inflicted with madness even more powerful than the kind Gehenna inflicted, though now Ember's mind was poisoned by the evil thoughts of Bolas, and she had barely enough energy to make it to the ground without fainting.

The element of surprise worked against her as she started falling, and Dark Spyro attacked her. Dark Spyro then started glowing, and was launched away from the battle with an audible sonic boom. The robotic dragon that came out of the snow attacked Pyrox, as Pyrox had just come into the field. The robot, The Frost Beast, wears a white featureless mask and light blue armor with white swirls on it and carries a sword with long teeth. Pyrox parried his sword and disarmed him, flinging the sword into an elemental and running off.

The Frost Beast grabbed his sword, killing the elemental in the process, and chased Pyrox off the battlefield. An Eternal raised its staff and shot a blast of ice at Ember, who was knocked out of the sky. I fought my way to Gehenna, thinking, Gehenna is made of darkness. Maybe my laser pistols, which shoot concentrated light beams, will hurt her. I clawed and kicked and punched through the horde of plants and zombies (ha ha ha), and reached Gehenna at the other end. She lunged at me, and I dodged. I shot, and hit her with one shot. She recoiled, which gave me another chance to shoot her, and this happened seven times in a row. The eighth time, I missed both shots, and I ducked and rolled, and shot her several times, and she shrieked and dispersed. I flew up, and saw that almost all of our troops had died. I called out, "Fall back! We've lost!" Our army - rather, what was left of it - retreated, and I flew down to were Ember lay, and picked her up. Spyro joined me, still fighting enemies off, and we picked her up and flew in the direction the rest of our forces were going. It seemed like even the forest we were fleeing through was pursuing us, because, well, it was. Plant creatures, remember?

Behind us, the forest was catching fire. The enemy had won a pyrrhic victory, and they weren't going to let us have anything to use to our advantage the next time we clashed. They were taking no chances. We journeyed as far as we could, and we rested for a night in a clearing. In the morning, Ember announced, "I'm going to take everyone here to a place where evil can't find us." The clearing flashed, and every creature in it simply disappeared.

**Do you think it's that easy to write a whole chapter on a single battle? Try it. But I finally got this finished! I'm so giddy! I'm working on the next story immediately, so you (hopefully) don't have to wait long. I won't post any stories other than ones in the Ætherplane trilogy while this series is still incomplete. (Very good time to end this story, don't you think? At the end of the year?) Happy 2020! I love you all!**


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